7 minute read
Ask the Expert: Visual Arts
Intimidated by the prospect of visiting an art gallery or a museum? Painter and drawing professor Julie Langsam shares her tips for looking at and engaging with works of art. Try out your mad skills at an exhibit of work by BFA students at the Mason Gross Galleries at Civic Square, running from Wednesday, April 18, through Friday, May 11, 2012. The opening reception is set for 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 26. Admission, as always, LARRY LEVANTI is free.
What advice would you give someone entering a museum or gallery for the first time? I like to walk slowly through the museum for about an hour, and maybe one or two things I feel moved by—but not everything. Pay attention to those objects and images that are demanding your attention, that make you want to stand in front of them. That’ s how you develop an eye. If one piece stays in my head, I feel really good about it; I feel I’ ve really seen it. What should a viewer look for? Trust your instincts and reactions. Everything doesn
’t have a literal meaning. Stand in front of a work and experience it. Don ’t make judgments. People with “innocent” eyes often see a lot more clearly and without preconceptions. Many times artists themselves are trying to get to that place where there is some unfamiliarity, some unknown. It isn ’t something to be afraid of, but to be embraced. The most important thing: having an open mind.
What’s your response to people who say,
“I don’t get it. What is it about?” Many people are more comfortable with recognizable imagery, not realizing that the comfort level comes from having a deep understanding of the imagery. If I am looking at a still life of fruit, I have intimate knowledge of, say, an apple—I have eaten one, smelled one, held one. Looking at an abstract painting is much the same: finding a frame of reference, even if it seems relatively unimportant, is helpful. If you are looking at a [painting by Mark] Rothko— maybe you think of a memory, a moment, a situation, like noticing when the sun is setting, where the sky is meeting the ground. It’ s about trying to move everything aside and to be present with the work in that moment and not be afraid of what you don ’t know—because the experience you have in front of a work of art is what is important, not what it is “ about. ”
Julie Langsam ’ s Neutra Landscape (Plywood Model House), 2010, oil on linen, 60-by-60 inches. Courtesy Julie Langsam
BRODSKY CENTER AT THE MET
Selections from the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions ’ print projects are on view throughout 2012 in the Mezzanine Gallery at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Prints on display include works by Will Barnet, William Kentridge, Faith Ringgold and Miriam Shapiro.
Will Barnet, Celebration, 2005, lithograph, 30 inches-by-22½ inches. Collaborating Printer: Randy Hemminghaus.
Q & A with Steve Dillon, Music alum and Advancement Council member
Mason Gross Advancement Council member and Music alumnus Steve Dillon has owned Dillon Music in Woodbridge, N.J., for 20 years. The trombone player, who deals in new, used and antique brass and woodwind instruments and accessories, says he began selling instruments out of his parents ’ house when he was just a junior in high school. Dillon says his client base includes musicians from The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, as well as orchestras in Russia and Japan. He also spends his time researching the life of the late trombone virtuoso and bandleader Arthur Pryor. Here Dillon recalls his experience as a Mason Gross School student and speaks about why he continues to support his alma mater today.
Q: What is your most memorable moment as a student? A: One of the most memorable moments was when the Rutgers Jazz Ensemble went to Notre Dame for a competition. We ’d sent a tape in and got a bad spot in the competition; it was a noon on a Saturday. We took the bus there. Guys were playing basketball in their tuxes. We won seven or eight awards out of 15. People were shocked. They were wondering, “Who is this Rutgers?” A lot of those guys from then went on to be successful [musicians].
COURTESY STEVE DILLON Q: What or who inspired you while you were at Mason Gross?
A: I wouldn ’t be where I am today if it was not for [late Music professor William “Prof”] Fielder.
Fielder was a mentor. He talked sense into you. He instilled confidence. I met him in my second year. He was hard on me, but you could call him at 8 p.m. and ask him questions or stop by his house to see him. Prof was a long-time customer of Dillon Music. I told Prof when I was opening the business. Q: What advice would you give to incoming and current students? A: Learn to be diversified, broaden your horizons. What you think you want to do in the future may not be what you end up doing. Just because you don ’t make the orchestra doesn ’t mean you can ’t earn a living in the music industry . . . You have to do something until you make it. It may sound romantic, but [being] a starving artist doesn ’t feel good. Q: There are so many good causes. What makes Mason Gross special to you? A: I support the Fielder Scholarship Fund to pay it forward. Scholarships help students. I would love to see more practical life experience be put into education. Students coming out of college have no idea of the real world. I’ m in the music industry, and I don ’t play for a living. A lot can be done in the music industry. —RR
Attendance at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Nov. 12, 2011, when the Rutgers University Glee Club belted the national anthem at the Rutgers-Army football match-up. The CBS Sports Network televised the performance. The Marching Scarlet Knights took the field, pumped up the crowd and performed alongside the West Point Band as 1,000 members of the Corps of Cadets marched. And yeah, in case you hadn’t heard, we creamed ‘em, 27-12. ]] 30,028
Alum went to extremes on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Aaron Jackson figures this week could be his toughest yet.
The Theater alum is about to embark on an enervating, three-week adventure that will culminate in building seven houses in seven days for families who have lost homes to the tornado that ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., in May 2011. As design producer on the t h r e e hanky ABC television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (the network recently canceled the show), Jackson crisscrossed the country with host Ty Pennington and a massive construction crew, concocting fantastical interiors for families who are often in dire straits. There ’ s the New York family of a girl with dwarfism whose home serves as a facility for a chapter of Little People of America, Inc.; or the man in Pennsylvania who quit his job to care for his paralyzed adult son. Each story was more heart-wrenching than the next. “It is emotional, to a point, ” says Jackson, who lives in Los Angeles. “You get involved in their stories. Some of them are definitely more heartbreaking than o t h e r s . This one [in Joplin] will be one of the harder ones. We ’ re working with families who ’ ve lost people in the tornado. ”
The pace was relentless: Jackson says each project spanned three weeks, from conception to unveiling. The final week was devoted to demolition and construction, beginning with what Jackson calls “doorknock day, ” when the crew surprised the family, to the “ reveal, ” when the family
toured the new structure.
Jackson says he put in 14-to-17-hour days, collaborating with the architect, dreaming up and pitching room themes inspired by family interviews, selecting paint colors, cabinetry, flooring— “ everything down to lighting fixtures ” —and convincing businesses to donate services and materials to the effort.
Jackson just completed his own home renovation and says he ’ s long had an affinity for home renovation and design. He says joining the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition crew was " an adventure . . . You just never know where you ’ll end up. You definitely get to meet a lot of cool people ” and indulge in radical design concepts.
“They ’ re always pushing us to be more and more extreme, ” says Jackson, who designed a bedroom with a carousel and outfitted another with a tree that the
